Reconstruction of pyrotechnology connected with the earliest pottery. Micromorphology and -FTIR at Xianrendong and Yuchanyan, South China.

Summary

The sites of Xianrendong (Jiangxi) and Yuchanyan (Hunan), China, contain the earliest pottery yet discovered, dating respectively 20,000 cal BP and 18,600 cal BP. This pottery is found in otherwise Late Paleolithic, hunter-gatherer contexts. To understand human activities at these caves we employed micromorphology and -FTIR on the sediments. Here we present the results of analysis of the layers containing combustion episodes, which suggest low heating temperatures at both sites. and infer different kinds of activities in the caves. The low temperatures evident at Xianrendong raise new questions regarding cooking methods and pottery-making techniques. Thoroughly consumed wood fuel and presence of prepared clay surfaces at Yuchanyan indicate sophisticated pyrotechnological knowledge. These results are a first step in generating a high-resolution account of life in these two sites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20891